The most influential US political pundits: 10-1

Telegraph.co.uk unveils the last installment of its list of the 50 most
influential political pundits in America. With just over six months before
United States citizens choose their 44th president, the 2008 election is
already proving to be the most fascinating and potentially one of the
closest contests in living memory.

Everything in Halperin’s career has been a success, from founding ABC’s Note – the must read of the 2004 campaign - to his current “the Page” on Time.com, via the widely read The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008 with John Harris.

What distinguishes his reported blog and his commentary is the access to highly placed sources and the leaks they provide him. As a ubiquitous TV analyst his views will be carefully listened to during the rest of the campaign. His on-line network news summaries, campaign events lists and his pithy, sometimes unvarnished (he apologised this year for revealing that John Edwards thought that Barack Obama was “kind of a pussy”) analysis make him a first stop for political reporters and campaign junkies.

9. DAVID BROOKS

The moderate conservative New York Times columnist’s changing reactions to Barack Obama have been one step ahead of the pack during the extended primary season. A regular on the highbrow The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. He initially overcame doubts to swoon over the Illinois senator, in part because of a shared admiration for the philosopher Reinhold Niebuhr.

By 2008, he was the first commentator to declare his discomfort with at the cult-like atmosphere at Obama rallies, a view that then became an everyday part of the media discussion. A long-time admirer of John McCain who still holds affection for Obama, he could be a political weathervane in the general election.

8. JON STEWART

The liberal host of the Daily Show on Comedy Central mixes comedy and political satire, but it is his serious moments that have carried him into the realm of punditry. A frequent of critic of George W Bush, he also embarrassed his friend John McCain for speaking at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, having previously denounced the preacher and his ilk as “agents of intolerance”. McCain was forced to concede that he was descending into the “crazy base world” of politics.

His show gets more serious as it endures, with guests such as Howard Dean and Harry Reid in the space of a week. A relentless critic of combative pundits, he is widely judged to have humiliated Tucker Carlson, formerly of CNN and MSNBC, and Chris Matthews during on-air jousts.

7. TIM RUSSERT

Mario Cuomo, writing in Time when it placed Russert 72nd among the 100 most influential people in the world, called him “among the most astute, discerning and relentless pursuers of truth in the nation”. His probing questions have the ability to alter the course of a campaign.

This was best demonstrated when he picked up Hillary Clinton’s hesitation over driving licences for illegal immigrants at a debate in October 2007 and didn’t relent until she was thoroughly embarrassed. It was the first chink in her armour of “inevitability”. With four million viewers every Sunday morning, Meet the Press is required viewing and a must-do appearance for aspiring presidents. Russert took Al Gore apart in 2000. On Sunday, Barack Obama goes into the lion’s den with Russert – potentially a make or break hour for the candidate.

6. MATT DRUDGE

To place one of the most reclusive figures in modern journalism in the top tier of 50 egotistical and omnipresent pundits might seem perverse. But Drudge’s influence is so pervasive that his www.drudgereport.com website is more capable than any other media outlet of changing the course of the 2008 election.

His detractors claim that all he does is link to other people’s stories. But that selection shapes the election narrative and his periodic exclusives – dramatically signalled by a siren and underlined red lettering – can be explosive. Hillary Clinton has tried to woo him. If John McCain or Barack Obama can win him over between now and November it could be worth several percentage points in the polls.

5. JOHN HARRIS AND JIM VANDEHEI

Founders of Politico.com, the website that has revolutionised US election coverage. Formerly political editor and political correspondent of the Washington Post, the pair have overseen a stunningly successful and ground-breaking multi-media venture, nurturing established talents such as columnist Roger Simon and correspondents Mike Allen and Jeanne Cummings as well as new ones like bloggers Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin and video prodigy James Kotecki.

Both assured television performers, Harris and VandeHei’s joint pieces helping establish major changes in the campaign narrative have earned them the soubriquet VandeHarris. Harris co-authored the highly influential “The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008”. Post-election, look for Politico to do with reporting the White House what they have with campaign coverage.

4. RUSH LIMBAUGH

The undisputed king of talk radio, Limbaugh invigorates and enrages in equal measure. A standard bearer of the conservative movement, he was bitterly disappointed with the choice of John McCain as Republican nominee, and declared he might withdraw support from his party, saying “I would just as soon the Democrats take the hit”.

Since then, he has concentrated on his “Operation Chaos” – urging Republicans voters to support Hillary Clinton so the Democratic nomination race will be prolonged and Barack Obama discredited. John McCain has declared: “I don’t listen to him.” But thousands of the voters he needs in November do.

3. SEAN HANNITY

Fast-talking, opinionated and unrelenting in his pursuit of targets, Hannity’s performances on Fox News Channel’s Hannity & Colmes, as well as his radio show, the second highest rated in the country, have made him one of the most significant voices in America today. Not forgetting the Sunday night show Hannity’s America, he is probably on air more than any other of his ilk.

Fortune magazine said in 2005, “If you agree with his conservative worldview, you're deemed a ‘great American’ If you don't, you're a pusillanimous blame-America-firster, who might as well pledge allegiance to France.” Single-handedly brought the issue of Barack Obama’s association with unrepentant former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers to national attention, if the Illinois senator fails to win the White House, Hannity could well be one of the principal reasons.

2. CHRIS MATTHEWS

Motor-mouth MSNBC presenter of “Hardball” show, Matthews is a former Jimmy Carter speechwriter and aide to Tip O’Neill when he was Speaker of the House. He is believed to be contemplating running as a Democrat for the Senate in his native Pennsylvania. His ratings are not the highest but Matthews punches above his weight – and shouts above the hubbub.

With his infectious enthusiasm for politics, Matthews has pushed back hard against what he sees as the cynicism of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Mocked for saying that Barack Obama sent a “thrill up my leg” and accused by Clinton aides of being a misogynist, Matthews has bounced back. Always part of the conversation, his return to full-time politics would be journalism’s loss.

1. KARL ROVE

Dubbed the “architect” and “Bush’s brain”, Rove plotted to rise of George W Bush and departed the White House after the disastrous 2006 mid-term elections. Successful punditry is a combination of real political experience, intellectual nimbleness, a provocative turn of phrase and a coherent point of view. Rove, a Fox News commentator and contributor to Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal, has all these qualities.

Democrats may protest that they would rather see him in jail than on their television screens but they can’t help noting what he says. Whether outlining what the Democrats should do or outlining John McCain’s rocky path to victory (and McCain has followed his advice almost to the letter), Rove’s take is important and often surprising. Expect the name Rove to come up frequently on the campaign trail – and in coverage of it.